row
A row is a straight line of things side by side. People sit in a row at a concert, or plant corn in rows. It is also a noisy fight, as in "they had a row."
What a model may hear
- database record SQL and data tables
- treat the word as a horizontal record in a table, with columns of data
- matrix element linear algebra and math
- refer to a horizontal vector or set of numbers in a grid
- grid position spreadsheets and CSV files
- identify a numbered horizontal line of cells
- data frame index Python pandas and R
- select, filter, or iterate over observations by row
- memory layout computer graphics and arrays
- assume row-major order for storing multi-dimensional data
Where people and models part ways
“add a row”
Meant: put another thing in the line
May be taken as: insert a blank database record or spreadsheet line
Say instead: “add another item to the list”
“the third row”
Meant: the third line of seats or items
May be taken as: index into a zero-based array and pick item number two
Say instead: “the third item from the top, counting one as the first”
“delete the row”
Meant: remove that line of things
May be taken as: drop a database record permanently without confirmation
Say instead: “remove that entry from the table”
“we had a row”
Meant: we argued loudly
May be taken as: parse as a data operation or fail to understand the emotional context
Say instead: “we had an argument”
Tips
- Say 'record' or 'entry' if you mean a database row.
- Say 'line' or 'item' if you mean a simple list.
- Specify 'spreadsheet row' or 'table row' to avoid matrix confusion.
- Use 'argument' or 'fight' to avoid the homograph entirely.
- With data, say 'horizontal line' if you need to distinguish from columns.
Often confused with
- column
- vertical, not horizontal
- record
- a row is one view of it
- line
- less structured, no grid implied
- array
- any ordered set, not necessarily flat
- tuple
- fixed size, often from databases
- rank
- a row in a matrix, rarely used elsewhere